Low-Cost Pseudo-Anthropomorphic PVA-C and Cellulose Lung Phantom for Ultrasound-Guided Interventions.

A low-cost custom-made pseudo-anthropomorphic lung phantom, offering a model for ultrasound-guided interventions, is presented. The phantom is a rectangular solidstructure fabricated with polyvinyl alcohol cryogel (PVA-C) and cellulose to mimic the healthy parenchyma. The pathologies of interest were embedded as inclusions containing gaseous, liquid, or solid materials.

Early glomerular filtration rate changes in living kidney donors and recipients: an example of renal plasticity.

Background: In living kidney transplantation there are two different individuals, a healthy donor and a renal transplant recipient. This is an excellent human model to study factors that influence kidney function in the context of reduced renal mass and the adaptation of two comparable kidneys to different metabolic demands.

Methods: We analyzed the changes in measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR, iohexol) from pretransplantation to 12 months after transplantation in 30 donor-recipient pairs.